Voting rights under fire in Maine

Thursday

Jul 28, 2011 at 2:00 AM

Throughout my life, I have been taught by almost every segment of our society, schools, churches, business organizations, civic service groups and clubs, political office holders and parties, the media, relatives, family friends, etc., that in America it is not only a right to vote, but also a responsibility.

Throughout my life, I have been taught by almost every segment of our society, schools, churches, business organizations, civic service groups and clubs, political office holders and parties, the media, relatives, family friends, etc., that in America it is not only a right to vote, but also a responsibility.

Growing up in a former Confederate state, I knew that the right to vote historically had been stripped from millions of Americans: non-property owners, women, people of color, those under the age of 21 who were legally old enough to fight and die for their country, but not old enough to cast a ballot.

As an educator in Maine in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was a leader in a coalition to lower the voting age in our state. Fortunately, Congress and the states acted first by passing the 26th Amendment to our Constitution, which franchised all Americans who had reached the age of 18. At about the same time, the Republican-led legislature and the governor enacted legislation that allowed legal residents in Maine to register and vote on the day of an election. That law has worked well for close to four decades. It helped move Maine into a small group of states that regularly leads the nation in voter turnout.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2011, Gov. Paul LePage enthusiastically signed into law a partisan Republican bill that ends same-day voter registration in Maine. This action effectively disenfranchises thousands of Maine voters, especially seniors, minorities, rural residents, low-income residents and young voters. Every Republican legislator voted for this law, with the exceptions of Rep. Meredith Strang Burgess of Cumberland, Sen. Chris Rector of Thomaston, and Sen. Brian Langley of Ellsworth. No Democrat voted for it.

The intense lobbying pressure was orchestrated by Charlie Webster, chairman of the Maine Republican Party. Webster did not hide behind the GOP's spin, which claimed this new law protected the integrity of elections and relieved burdens on municipal officials. As quoted in interviews with Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz, Webster stated: "If you want to get really honest, this is about how the Democrats have managed to steal elections ...; Many of us believe that the Democrats intentionally steal elections ...; Buses. They bring them in buses — Job Corps people — They move 'em around to wherever they have a tough seat and they want to win an election."

If you believe that, I've got some swamp land in East Texas I'd like to show you.

Where does Webster think he lives — a Chicago Ward, New Orleans, North Philly? In the 38 years that same-day registration has been available in Maine, there have been less than five verified documentations of voter fraud. I believe that elections are held to benefit the interests of our voters and for continuing our traditions of democracy, not to lighten the work load of our dedicated municipal workers.

This legislation is part of a national effort to make it harder for voters who tend to support Democrats to participate in elections. In an op-ed published by USA Today on May 18, Donna Brazile alerted America to the anti-democratic efforts coordinated by extreme conservative groups in over 20 states. The most onerous of these bills, which mandates photo I.D.s at polling places, was defeated in the Maine Legislature. This proposed legislation is a stepchild of poll taxes utilized in the south to prevent black participation in elections. Poll taxes were declared to be unconstitutional under the 24th Amendment, passed in 1964.

Republicans across Maine are trumpeting the elimination of same-day registration. In a newsletter, at least one member of the York County Republican delegation extolled the new law. The newsletter asserted that the need for this bill "is to alleviate pressure on municipal officials who are responsible for ensuring the integrity of the voting process."

The fact that there have been so few voter fraud cases in Maine since the 1970s is proof that our municipal employees have done an excellent job in carrying out their duties. The newsletter further admits that "the number of absentee voters and last minute registration has increased dramatically in recent years." In other words, the problem is a large rise in voter participation, so the Republican legislators are fixing it by making voting more difficult.

A campaign to repeal the new law via a people's veto is being conducted by a statewide coalition, led by the League of Women Voters of Maine. The coalition's goal is to place the issue before the Maine electorate on this year's November ballot. In order for that goal to be reached, just under 58,000 valid signatures of registered Maine voters must be obtained and presented to the State by Aug. 8. If that difficult task is not completed, the coalition will have until Sept. 27 to gather enough signatures to put repeal on the 2012 ballot.

In her syndicated column, Cynthia Tucker, a respected Atlanta Journal-Constitution correspondent, wrote about the national movement to reduce voter participation:

"In New Hampshire, for example, State House Speaker Bill O'Brien told some tea partiers in March that 'foolish' college students don't have the 'life experience' to be allowed to vote ...; (Republican lawmakers) have no compunction about narrowing the franchise if they can reap a partisan advantage. That's un-American, an abuse of the democratic values that we tout to other countries. Don't Conservatives believe in the Constitution?"

I am starting to believe that elements of Maine's Republican Party are rejecting their time-honored heritage of abolitionism, equal rights, opposing the outrages of McCarthyism, creating a healthier environment, and yes, passage of the same-day registration law. A valid question is whether such conservatives believe primarily in the original U.S. Constitution. The original Constitution only allowed elitist males to vote and to govern. It has been the expanding of our electorate, not reducing it, that allows America to exemplify our democratic principles for all the world to observe and emulate.

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